


Zero

by F1_rabbit



Series: The ABCs of Winter [26]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apocalypse, M/M, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 11:17:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9069229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: A tear has appeared in the fabric of the universe, and now Dany is rushing to find a solution before there's no longer a world to save.





	

Dany remembered how he felt the day they discovered it.

A tear in the fabric of space and time itself.

He had been working away in the lab, focused on his work when he realised that he was the only one there. Strolling through to the canteen, the annoyance he felt paled in comparison to the emotions that would run through his head, he saw everyone standing around the tv.

"What's happened?" Dany nudged Nico, making him drop his coffee cup as he turned to stare at him, his ice blue eyes were wide and his lip trembling.

"It took Saturn, just swallowed it whole."

"Who did?" Dany rested his hand on Nico's arm, feeling him shake as Dany tried to catch his gaze, bring him out of his thoughts.

"The wormhole."

Dany shoved his way closer to the screen, watching with his mouth hanging open as the same footage was showed on repeat.

Saturn was there, and then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone. The only evidence of what caused it was a black patch in Saturn's place, instead of the stars and galaxies that should have been visible.

His blood ran cold, a wormhole this close to Earth would be disastrous.

Dany ran back to his lab, shoving people out of his way as he stumbled over the boxes that were piled up by the door, falling to the ground as he caught his hand on the corner of a metal cabinet, leaving a scar that would forever remind him of that day.

Blood was dripping down his arm, congealing on his skin as he contacted colleagues all around the world.

The sun set and rose again, Dany oblivious to it all, bathed in the glow of his computer screen. The automatic lights had gone out, his eyes scrunched up as he peered at the data, looking for anomalies.

He groaned when the lights flickered into action, his eyes never leaving the screen as he typed away, piecing together all the information.

"Have you been here all night?" Nico's shoes squeaked on the vinyl floor tiles, scratching at Dany's brain as he tried to block it out.

"I think I know what's going on."

Nico gasped, but his eyes were drawn to Dany's blood covered arm. Dany flinched when he saw it in the light, but it was trivial compared to the wormhole.

"How did it happen?" Nico returned with the first aid kit, but Dany had gone back to working.

"It started as unusual disturbances in the asteroid belt, but then the wormhole started dragging in bigger objects."

"Like Saturn?" Nico was cleaning up Dany's arm as he scrolled through the data, an endless stream of numbers that held the secrets to the universe.

"Like Saturn, and it's only a matter of time before it takes the rest of the galaxy."

Dany showed Nico how much Mercury and Mars had moved, much further than the normal variance of their orbits. "It's going to drag us away from the sun, and it won't take much before the weather turns on us."

Nico slumped down against the desk, the sound of Dany's fingers clattering against the keys was all that could be heard, the heating clicking in and out as the two of them sat alone in the office.

Outside the world screamed for answers.

***

The world's brightest minds had been called on to figure out how to stop the wormhole, banish it back to wherever it came from. But all they had was conjecture and hypotheses.

Dany had taken to living in the lab, and there was no-one left to object. Nico had stayed, not that either of them could get home.

Flights were all cancelled due to the apocalypse.

Everyone else had drifted away, shops were boarded up, and homes had been abandoned. Not that there was any way to escape the earth, but with the end looming, people had given up on their routines.

All hope had been lost.

*

Dany woke with a jolt, the sound of his computer beeping demanding his attention. Nico was groping around for his glasses, the sound of metal scraping against the coffee table as he groaned.

"I know how to close the wormhole."

Nico stumbled over to him, his bare feet sticking to the floor tiles as Dany downed the last of his cold coffee.

"How?" Nico rubbed at his eyes, slumping down in the chair next to Dany.

"Rapidly raise the temperature inside it so that it destabilises and collapses in on itself."

"You're going to nuke it?"

Dany grinned, his eyes wide and his hair sticking out at funny angles from running his fingers through it.

"Yes."

*

It had taken all day to get people to believe Dany, and another three days before they could come up with a plan.

"I have to go, confirm that it's the right thing to do before we risk destroying the universe." Dany was shoving his research into a bag, notebooks and flash drives were piled in, and he found out the screwdriver so that he could take the hard drive out of his computer.

Nico stood frozen, and Dany felt tears well up in his eyes. He hated saying good bye, not knowing if it would be last time. It was the cruellest form of torture, but if it hadn't been for the wormhole, he would have never spoken to Nico, and had the opportunity to get to know him like he did.

"They can arrange to get you home to Germany." Dany didn't want to leave, but he had to. "My bike's in the garage, it should get us to the airport."

"No." Nico folded his arms, his face blank as Dany wanted to scream. He would give anything to be able to go home, pretend that the world wasn't ending and leave it all for someone else to sort out.

"You can't stay here, there's nothing left." Dany stepped closer, staring into Nico's eyes, pleading with him to make this easier on him.

"I'm coming with you, I can help."

Dany shook his head, resting his hands on Nico's arms. "If it doesn't work it's a death sentence."

"If it doesn't work, we're all dead anyway." Nico smiled, they had both accepted their fate, the hope that it could be stopped was all that kept them going.

Dany stared into his soul, tears streaming down his cheeks. Nico wiped them away with his thumb, his lips trembling as he closed his eyes, leaning in for a kiss. Time slowed, Nico's soft lips comforted him with tender kisses, the no dating in the office rule long forgotten.

"I'm coming with you." Nico grabbed his spare glasses from his desk drawer, before holding his arm out for Dany to lead the way. "I don't want you to take all the credit for saving the world."

*

The streets were deserted, rubbish scattered along the road as the broken glass crunched under the tyres.

Nico closed his eyes, clinging on to Dany, shielding himself from the horror of reality.

***

Dany felt guilt every time that he set eyes on Nico. No matter how often he said that he wanted to be here, it didn't change the feeling of responsibility.

Nico was curled up in his arms, sleeping peacefully as the Earth disappeared into the distance, heading towards the void.

"I wish I'd never told you, I should have sent you home." Dany stroked Nico's hair, watching his face twitch as his eyes moved.

"It wasn't your choice." Nico reached out to hold Dany's hand, cuddling in closer as the blanket held them tight, strapping them in so that they wouldn't float around. "We have a better chance of figuring it out if there's two of us."

"Every day the probes get sent out, and before we can get any useful data, we lose all communication." Dany took a deep breath, the recycled air stale, reminding him of the dire situation that he was in.

"I think I've shielded the sensors enough that we should be able to get something."

Dany could feel hope slipping away, resigning himself to the inevitable. "I think the astronauts are under orders to fire the nukes no matter what."

Nico looked up at him, smiling as he raised an eyebrow.  "Then we better get to work."

*

Waiting for the data from the probe was the most exquisite torture, being unable to do anything while the universe was disappearing around them.

"It's showing zero kelvin, absolute zero." Dany groaned, bumping into a floating cup as he tried to grab on to a handle.

"That's not possible." Nico was checking all the sensors, as Dany went through the data for a second time. "There's no way that it could occur naturally."

Dany froze, he'd been looking at this in the wrong way. He assumed that it was a natural occurrence, but Nico was right, there was no way for it to happen by chance.

Something had created the wormhole.

"Do we still have access to the shuttle?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm going in."

*

Dany was aware that if he lived to tell the tale, he'd probably spend the rest of his life in jail for stealing a space shuttle.

He'd sent all his research back to Earth, knowing that if, when, he died, at least someone might have a hope of working it all out.

Nico had insisted on coming, but since it was the difference between a quick death and a slow one, Dany didn't have the energy to argue with him.

The astronauts were all screaming over the communication system, but there was nothing that they could do from the spaceship. Dany had made sure of that.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Scientific curiosity." Dany knew he had nothing to lose now. "I have to know what is inside the wormhole, why it doesn't obey any of the known laws of physics, it could save billions of lives."

"Even if it means certain death?"

"Yes. Why are you here?"

"Because I love you." Nico reached out to hold Dany's hand, the padded gloves of their spacesuits making it little more than a gesture, but it meant everything to him.

Dany let out a manic shriek, laughing hysterically as the shuttle creaked under the pressure of the wormhole.

"I love you too."

Here he was facing certain death, with the love of his life.

*

The ominous creak of metal as Dany's ears started ringing signalled that it was too late to turn back. Communications were down, and the sensors were showing that it was zero kelvin outside.

Nico was screaming, blood trickling from his nose as the pressure caused the blood vessels to burst.

A crack appeared in the windscreen, it was all that was left to protect them against the unforgiving conditions of outer space.

The glass broke, shards flying at them and cracking Dany's helmet, the pressure crushing his lungs, squeezing the life out of him as he gasped for air even though there was none.

Dany saw his life flashing before his eyes, along with images of a life that wasn't his, a life that could have been.

He saw a flash of a light, a glimpse of a creature that defied all known biology, like a monster from a low budget horror movie.

Dany felt his eardrums burst, his hands clutching at his helmet in a desperate attempt to stop the pain, white light blinding him as he drowned in silence.

He was on the verge of passing out when he heard a voice.

"We underestimated your species."

***

Dany woke with a jolt, the sound of a computer beeping demanding his attention.

He looked around with panic in his eyes, his chest tight as he gasped for air, the noise deafening as he blinked to get everything into focus.

The whirr of the computer's fan, the flickering lights. He was back in the lab.

He glanced around to see that he was alone, no sign of the makeshift bed that Nico had been sleeping on.

The door opened with a beep, and Dany's eyes darted towards the source of the noise.

Nico was strolling in, coffee cup in hand, and a smile on his face.

"Tell me you didn't spend all night here." Nico handed Dany the coffee, and he stared it with confusion.

"Where did you get this?"

Nico smiled, but it faded when he saw the fear in Dany's eyes. "The coffee shop on the corner, why?"

"It's open again?"

"It was never shut." Nico tilted Dany's chin up so that he was looking at him. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

Dany took a deep breath, he was back, on Earth, and everything was back to normal.

"I had the craziest dream."

"That'll teach you to sleep at your desk." Nico leant in for a kiss, Dany blushing as he smiled to himself.

He was going to have to lay off the coffee for a while.

Nico was holding his hand, and all was right with the world.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Nico held up their hands, and Dany saw the scar.

The one that he'd got after he found out that the world was in danger.

It wasn't a dream.

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
